Escape
by Animal Ranger
Summary: Two young slaves in 4th century Uras have been mistreated by their master. They plan to escape, but it might be harder than they think. Some of these events will lead up my next planned book "The Elements" Escape is a temporary title until I can find a more suitable one.


p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Victoria hauled a sack of potatoes up the spiral stairs, and into the storage room. She was 14 years old, 5 when she was sold to the Master. She had a strong personality and mind, not afraid to a speak up to anyone, other than the master. She had a golden personality.. She threw the potatoes into the room and slammed the door shut. She walked back down the spiral stair and back into the kitchen./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Her younger friend, Caleb, who was 13 years of age, when he was sold to the master, sat on a short stool, sorting the vegetables from the fruits into a different basket. He was a strong person, able to lift up two sacks of sand and a piece of anvil. He was a handsome boy, some girls at the marketplace even checked him out, even though he was a slave. His personality didn't match Victoria's, however. He was a shy person, sure he enjoyed talking, but he doesn't speak up for himself and relied on Victoria to do the talking. /span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He finished sorting them out and looked at Victoria./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I'm finished sorting out the produce, making the bread, and and chopping the firewood," he announced, stretching his arms and broad shoulders, "Are you done with yours?"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I'm done," she replied, braiding her long, chocolate brown hair, "Shall we go tell the master?"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He nodded and stood up. Despite being a year younger than Victoria, Caleb was taller than her, a whole foot taller. They walked up the spiraling stairs, into the long hallway, and stopped at two, grand, tall doors./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Victoria knocked on one of the doors and a deep, gruff voice answered. She opened the doors and a grand room opened up to them. Two chairs faced a fireplace, one with an arm resting on it. Bookcases were surrounding them like a library and a painting of a young, beautiful lady sat atop the fireplace. The fire flickered brightly, casting the room with an orange tint. /span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""We are finished with our daily assignments Master." Caleb said with a small bow. /span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Are you?" The Master replied, "Then go light every candle in this house." /span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""But we have finished our assignments for /spanspan style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"the DAY/spanspan style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"!" Victoria yelled out, "It isn't fair. It's already past sunset" /span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""You will do the work I tell you to do until I am satisfied." snapped the Master, "Now leave this room. It is not your place to be in this room anyway." His hand waved them off. Victoria angrily barged out of the room, with Caleb trailing behind calmly and quietly without saying a word./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"It was 5 hours after sunset when they finished lighting the candles of the house. They walked back to their living quarters. It was in the back lawn of the house, a wooden small shack with small holes on the roof. The Master had them build it for storage, but was horrified by the status it was in when it was finished. So he gave it to them. If he was away for business, they'd seized the chance and have some fun in the house, playing hide-n-seek and feeling like they owned the place./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Inside was rather cozy, with a small fireplace burning with a teapot hanging over it. Hay was scattered across the room, one big pile for them to sleep on with a large cloth that Victoria knitted. Gunter, another servant of The Master, was there pouring hot water into a small cup. He was a small, rather plump, penguin with eyes as big as the moon. He greeted them with hugs, though Caleb was too tall to reach for so he hugged his legs. He would often smuggle some food and other supplies for them if he had the chance. /span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Victoria jumped onto the haystack and moaned, lying on her stomach. Caleb sat next to the fire. /span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""It isn't fair," she mumbled into the hay, "He always makes us do things even after we finish the stuff he tells us to do. I hate it"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I rather enjoy working. Helps me work on my strength." Caleb replied./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""How do you like this?" Victoria said, turning around to lay on her side facing the fire, "He gives us grueling tasks. Remember that time when he told us to guard the chicken coop for 2 nights."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Of course I remember." He chuckled as if it were nothing, "I enjoy it because it gets me prepared for life. Life isn't always going to be leisure Victoria."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""But don't you always have something? Like a yearning that just hangs on to your mind, not going away until you do it? And that isn't a reason I'll hold onto Caleb. I need a better reason."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Well….no, I never had that feeling." He lied down on the haystack, facing Victoria, "And I enjoy it because I have you. Gunther please put out the fire."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Wenk Wenk" The ground started rumbling slightly beneath them./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Good night Victoria."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;""Good night Caleb." They fell asleep to the rhythmic rumbling./p 


End file.
